97 Super Sport ignition switch keeps overloading

[greenday77]

I was out this weekend and when I was on my way home I had many of my accessories running--lights, ballast pump, radio and amp, and interior lights. Everything was fine and all of the sudden the boat went dead. I shut off all accessories and tried to just start the engine, but when I tried to push in the ignition switch it kept overloading and popping out. Ended up getting a tow back and was wondering if anyone has seen this before. As it stands now when I push the ignition switch in now the oil pressure shoot up along with the temp gauge and then trips out. Checked all fuses and battery seams good. Any input would be appreciated. The engine is the GT 40.

[Rick]

Check your battery ground at the battery and at the engine.

[greenday77]

I have checked all connections both positive and negative and my thinking is that this would be more of an intermittent problem. In addition I was idling and not hitting any other boat wakes when the boat died. Is there a computer or some type of chip on the motor that I could have fried with a power spike? The motor is the GT40 EFI. I was just hoping that someone had seen something like this before and could help me out. Even if I take it to a shop to get it fixed I would like to give them some ideas so they don't have to waste a lot of time and my money. Thanks--Mike

[nms1991]

greenday77 it sounds like you have a short in the purple wire coming off of the ignition key switch to the engine. Two spots I would check is near the starter relay or the altenator. The starter relay it has two purple wires possibly worn thru to cause a short but also check near the main engine plug at the port side of the engine coming from the front of the boat. The altenator also has a purple wire going to it make sure nothing is touching the post to ground or the wire is shorted to ground.